Parents provide prime example

It may seem simple to tell those people who are intent on using drugs that they should not take them.

If it were that easy, then there would be no national drug problem. But, the young, curious mind absorbs only more ways for it to expand, escape reality or feel euphoria.

Gamma hydroxy butyrate (GHB) is the newest in a long list of drugs that club-going, active experimenters want to try.

Earlier this month, four patrons of a club in Huntington Beach were rushed to the hospital with vomiting, passing out and sickness attributed to GHB ingestion.

GHB first appeared in the 1940s as an anesthetic but was found to cause seizures, comas and death. Until 1990, it was legal. Before that time, GHB was believed to promote hormone growth and serve as a bodybuilding supplement.

Now in the club scene, the purpose of GHB is to send the user into a euphoria unmatched on Earth. But if a user drinks too much of this fly-high serum, it sends the person into a coma-like state. And since every person's system is different, there is no measurable "safe" amount.

The Orange County Register reported that in California, Texas and Florida there have been drug overdose cases linked to GHB.

Before GHB, there was Ecstasy, known in club circles as "X" or "E". Parents were being warned that there underground club-going children were indulging in this dangerous drug.

Recently, crystal methamphetamine also has been in the news. Parents are being told of the warning signs. Parents are not told that in another three months to two years there will be another new drug discovery.

There seems to be something else around the corner that parents cannot protect their children from. There also seems to be these sinister club owners plotting to drug these helpless unsuspecting clubbers.

But like it or not, there will always be teens and young adults who believe that experimenting with the new and improved escape-from-reality method will take their party experience to the next level.

Parents need to reinvent how they attack the problem of drugs.

It seems everyone else is to blame.

Society makes drugs seems attractive. But aren't parents a part of this society? When a parent relishes that night cap at the end of a hard day, that influences a young person.

Whether it is wine, beer or marijuana, the message sent is that a substance is needed to help a person unwind. What substance a person decides to use is simply a judgment call.

Parents need to begin a dialogue with their children about drugs, not a self-righteous lecture. It is important that children know what their choices are but they need information from elders. It is also important that parents involve their children in the discussion and ask question.

Parents are the first teachers that their children have. It is their responsibility to be the initial teachers. Taking away the mystique of the magical effects of drugs is a start.

Also by parents cannot scare children out using drugs. By adults knowing certain drugs function does allows the young adult to make that decision while knowing the risks -- risks to their health and their life.

But for a child, telling the daughter or son to not do drugs while holding tightly onto a glass of wine -- or beer or joint -- it really means just do it.